TV via the Internet as an alternative to satellite

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This is a very good question. Theoretically, any ISP or DNS service could be a security weak point, as in any of these organizations, people could redirect traffic that shouldn't be, or try to hack into them.

Lastly, I query www.spiegel.de and www.zattoo.com again (green markings).

Note that both overplay-DNS and google-DNS give the same IP for www.spiegel.de, but for zattoo.com, things are different: Only google gives the "correct" answer, whereas overplay.dns gives a "different" address, which belongs to a server run by overplay.

That's the trick behind SMARTDNS, fake and redirect DNS-Entries.

This clever trick could certainly also be used to redirect www.mybank.de to some other address... On the other hand, this is not only a potential problem with overplay, but with any DNS, google's DNS could get penetrated, too.

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I use only one computer,can I set up two accounts/logins, one standard and the other with the smart DNS?

I am a little nervous with banking and other personal details.

Or is there an easier way to change between settings?

About the no longer available catch ups,a good example is old Top Gears, Benidorm and Fifth gear.

The new ones are still available to watch, but old series not.

This is a very good question. Theoretically, any ISP or DNS service could be a security weak point, as in any of these organizations, people could redirect traffic that shouldn't be, or try to hack into them. As far as I know, a Smart DNS company couldn't easily get into encrypted secure data that was used say for banking, but it is possible they could do some other dodgy things with it.

That said, OverPlay who I use have been around for a long time and have thousands of customers. I personally trust them enough that I have their DNS servers in my router, and I also do my banking within that same network. But if you are not so trusting, which is fine, just reserve certain devices for Smart DNS.

Perfectly described by fathert. VPN has the advantage that it is technically more secure if you are doing dodgy stuff (i.e. torrenting), but Smart DNS has the following advantages:

1) You get much faster bandwidth than VPN as the video is not tunneled through. It is the same fast bandwidth you normally have. As an example, I can barely get a 400kbps when tunneling into New Zealand or Australia and via VPN the video is so poor it is unwatchable. Via Smart DNS, I get excellent quality ABC, SBS and TVNZ streams. The same for Netflix (full 1080p streams).

2) You don't have to change VPN's to change countries. I done a test on one computer through different browser tabs, and I had five different streams playing at the same time, one from TVNZ in New Zealand, One from the BBC in HD, one from US Hulu in HD, one from ABC in Australia and a final one from Netflix - try that with VPN. Of course, in the real world this means if you switch between Hulu and BBC etc, there are no changes that need to be made.

3) Smart DNS is cheaper. Enough said there.

4) With Smart DNS, you can easily switch Netflix libraries if you are a subscriber. Say you subscribe to Netflix UK, but you find a film only available in Netflix US or Canada - you can easily switch to the other library and watch it.

5) Smart DNS can be set up on devices that normally don't allow VPN's, like Smart TVs, Blu-Ray players, gaming consoles and other STBs.

There are a few other features, but these are the main ones.

As part of the 1st question, if you are worried about security with Smart DNS, don't set it on your router, and leave one PC without it set up on. It doesn't affect Skype and all that, so it all depends on what you are personally worried about. That PC you don't set up Smart DNS on (it's just two DNS servers you add to the network settings) won't have access to the BBC and all the other stuff.

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I use only one computer (additional info: Windows 8.1), can I set up two accounts/logins, one standard and the other with the smart DNS?

a.) open the CMD-Prompt with admin rights

b.) enter "netsh interface show interface" and you'll get a list of the system's connections;

find out for which connection you want to change the DNS-Server

c.) Assuming you want to change the DNS to 8.8.8.8 for the device "Ethernet", this will do the job:

netsh interface ipv4 add dnsserver "Ethernet" address=8.8.8.8 index=1

So you could create two batchfiles called normal-dns.bat and special-dns.bat on your desktop, set them to be run as administrator, and each of these files contains the line as mentioned in c.), but with different DNS-Addresses. That should do the job to switch on the fly (with one click) between different settings on Windows 8.1.

Cheers

Franklan

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Guest

I'll be quite direct here. The Beeb hasn't produced anything of decent quality in a few years now at least for me. I'd rather watch old Top gear clips or Horrible histories with my son on Toobon the bravia.

Meantime I steer our telly starved viewers to the Youtube channel of a brilliant bloke who is an at home Dad like me, Garry Entropy.

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I am using Wifi, so do I simply change Ethernet to Wifi and the address numbers to my my Smart DNS, and my safe DNS?

netsh interface ipv4 add dnsserver "Ethernet" address=8.8.8.8 index=1

How do I save it to the desktop then?

Is it just a case when they are on the desktop of clicking on which one I want to use?

Can the address be set to automatic, for "safe surfing"?Like before I started messing about with the DNS.

Hi MrT,

a.) open the CMD-Prompt with admin rights

b.) enter "netsh interface show interface" and you'll get a list of the system's connections;

find out for which connection you want to change the DNS-Server

c.) Assuming you want to change the DNS to 8.8.8.8 for the device "Ethernet", this will do the job:

netsh interface ipv4 add dnsserver "Ethernet" address=8.8.8.8 index=1

So you could create two batchfiles called normal-dns.bat and special-dns.bat on your desktop, set them to be run as administrator, and each of these files contains the line as mentioned in c.), but with different DNS-Addresses. That should do the job to switch on the fly (with one click) between different settings on Windows 8.1.

Cheers

Franklan

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Well, here is something cool from OverPlay. I was asking them yesterday about this and today they launch it on the world. Add this website to your home-screen on your iPhone or Android phone, and you can easily change between all the different locales for Netflix.

I believe there is also a button that appears when your IP address has changed to quickly activate your new IP address. They said they would like to automate this in the future - if possible, but this is certainly a good start.

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Zattoo got back to me on this one, and the answer is sadly no. They do not support the WDTV and are unlikely to.

That said, if you are an Android user, there is a possibility of wireless streaming with the PlayTo app and the £10 Now TV box. I don't think it works with Zattoo yet, but it seemed to work really well for FilmOn.

If it is as good as AirPlay is with Apple products, then it could be a really low-cost solution to get both live and catch-up TV to your main television (after-all, the Now TV box also has the BBC iPlayer, 4oD and Demand 5 with ITV Player coming later this year).

Catch: Two. 1) A friend or relative will have to ship the £10 box to you, as Sky don't deliver outside of the UK and 2) You will need to be able to put OverPlay's Smart DNS servers into your router. Most routers allow this, but not all, and most people don't know how to log into their routers, so that may be a tech challenge.

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I've been using and trying out different possibilities for OD and here is my combo:

Live TV

Since all satellites are down I am using Zattoo. It has all most important channels (as for me). Subscription (€6 / Month) gives you brilliant quality, no ads and ITV and BBC are in (almost) HD quality. I stream it via Apple TV. The best feature is that it works in the background whilst streaming, which means I can use my iPhone for texting, mails etc. whilst watching TV.

There is also filmon, which has bigger range of channels, but much worst quality (reliability) and is € 15 a month, which is way too much as for my channel-needs.

On Demmand:

Samsung Smart TV seems to be the best solution as it has all you can get: ITV, BBC, 4oD, Channel 5 AND Netflix.

Smart DNS

I use UnoTelly. It is like OverPlay but unlike (correct me if I am wrong) offers dynamic DNS additionally. Which means that for Netflix only I can switch between all Netflix regions (UK, US, Brazil...), where for example US has a broader offer of movies. All in HD.

My 90cm dish isnt enough for Astra 2E in Berlin;(

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... You will need to be able to put OverPlay's Smart DNS servers into your router. Most routers allow this, but not all, and most people don't know how to log into their routers, so that may be a tech challenge.

Franklan has explained comprehensively how to do this elsewhere in this thread (click on his name and investigate posts of his pointing to this thread)

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OK, Step 1.) : Using MyFritz as DYNDNSSetting up MyFritz is described here: http://service.avm.de/support/de/SKB/FRITZ-Box-7390/966:MyFRITZ-Konto-registrieren-und-in-FRITZ-Box-einrichtenTranslation:1.Within the userface of your FRITZ!Box, click on "Internet".2.There, click on "MyFRITZ!".3.Aktivate the option "Neues MyFRITZ!-Konto erstellen" (create new MyFritz account).4.Enter your email address into the field "E-Mail-Adresse".5.Enter a password to be used into the field "MyFRITZ!-Kennwort" and click on "weiter".6. Confirm the notification "Internetzugriff auf die FRITZ!Box einrichten" with "Weiter", or6a. Create a Fritz!Box user by entering a username and a password and click on continue7.Click on "Beenden". You should now get an email with a link to activate the MyFritz-Service. After you've clicked on that link you should get another email confirming that MyFritz is activated.8. Checking if MyFritz is working: Within the Fritz-Box setup, go to "Internet > MyFRITZ! > MyFRITZ!-Konto". It should say "Ihre FRITZ!Box ist bei MyFRITZ! angemeldet". Yeah!Here is a picture:http://service.avm.de/support/media/filter/l/transfer/img/50c62c46-0e70-4d33-8339-5cdbac100097/myfritz_angemeldet.png9. Deactivate access to your router:On that page there is an option "Internetzugriff auf die FRITZ!Box über https aktiviert", deactivate that, unless you know what you're doing. Click on "Übernehmen".Now, we'll need to find out what DynDNS-Address we have...10. Select "Internet/Freigaben/FRITZ!Box Dienste". Activate the option "Internetzugriff auf die FRITZ!Box über HTTPS aktiviert" temporarily. You will now see the DYNDNS address of your router, something like "https://l5ffrtzpbb5gfgtgaz.myfritz.net"Write down that address, or copy it to a document, but without the leading "https://". Deactivate the option "Internetzugriff auf die FRITZ!Box über HTTPS aktiviert" again and you're ready.Now let's check if everything works: 11.) Open this: http://www.overplay.net/vpn/ip-address/what-is-my-ip-address.phpYou'll see something like "You are visiting from aa.bb.cc.dd". Write down that number 12.) Open this: http://www.kloth.net/services/nslookup.phpEnter the address you've written down in 10. into the field "Domain:" (without the "https://" !!!), click on "Look it up". You'll get an answer like "here is the nslookup result for grutzelfrutzel.myfritz.net from server localhost, querytype=A : [bla bla bla] Address: some IP address" If some IP address is the same number as written down in step 11.), you have successfully set up Dynamic DNS with MyFritz! Finally: Setting up Overplay to use that address:13.) Open www.overplay.net, click on "My Account" and log in.Click on "My Account / Profile". Enter the address as written down in step 10 into the field "DynDNS Hostname" and click on "Save changes".Cheers Franklan

I will look into setting this up. With T-Home, the link is killed by them at 4am eveny day, so I shouldn't need to worry about resetting.

One question: would having a fixed IP address, provided by a third party, interfere with a Corp VPN or Direct Access (IPsec with IPv6 etc)?

RT

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As your provider provides your native IP address, only they can provide you with a fixed IP address (and most domestic providers don't offer this as an option), unless you buy a "fixed IP" address via a proxy - this will slow down your traffic.

Many providers have stopped breaking the line once a day, especially those providing IP-based telephone or entertainment services, including Telekom

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... Many providers have stopped breaking the line once a day, especially those providing IP-based telephone or entertainment services, including Telekom

But if you already have or plan to go with such a provider, you'll have to activate your freebie account with your DDNS provider once a month or whatever their required frequency happens to be, failing which they'll oblige you to look elsewhere or take one of their paid accounts.

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Not the case with no-ip, I understand. So long as you refresh your IP address at least 30 days, then the account stays active. Dnydns.org is different - they require you to manually log in to the account at least once a month to keep the service active unless you buy their basic account at $25/year (so not especially expensive). If you host a website or email with Strato or 1&1 they include dynamic DNS services with most packages, or, of course you can use the free "Myfritz" service if you have a Fritzbox.

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By "activate your freebie account" I presumed you mean manually log into the account with a browser to refresh and retain the subscription - this is the case (now - it didn't used to be) with Dyndns, but not with no-ip, with which you simply need to refresh your ip address at least once a month (normally automatically with the router). i.e. Dyndns needs manual intervention to keep it alive, no-ip does not (so long as you continue to use it)

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Gotcha: Setting up the US Roku in Germany is not as straightforward as the UK Roku for some reason. There is a guide your can use here, but be aware that if one step is not done in the right place it won't set up correctly. I had to clear and create a new Roku account a couple of times before I got it right (and I wrote the guide!)

Does this have to do with entering the proper ZIP Code + City, State? I "have" an address (my sister's) in the US, so it's hopefully not so much a concern.

Roku 3 can be had from amazon.com for 99€ including shipping and customs.